Post quake development of our roads and water infrastructure

Following the 15th anniversary of the 22 February earthquake, we’re looking at different Council aspects of the rebuild, and how far we’ve come. Next up, our transport and three waters infrastructure.

Billions of dollars have been spent repairing and rebuilding Christchurch’s horizontal infrastructure since the Canterbury Earthquakes.

The Council has been leading improvements to the city’s transport and three waters infrastructure for the last decade, building on work carried out by the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team (SCIRT) that headed up repairs for five-years post-earthquake.

Large scale roading projects have been carried out on some of the city’s most important arterial routes such as Riccarton, Lincoln and Sumner roads.

Work on Riccarton Road – between Harakeke and Matipo streets – took a combined approach to roading repairs, replacing and upgrading damaged underground pipes and introducing bus priority measures.

The $18.4 million Riccarton Road project combined water and roading work to reduce commuter disruption

The $18.4 million project, which finished eight months earlier than expected, set the standard for future Council work to combine water and roading work to reduce commuter disruption and keep costs down.

A two-and-a-half-year project to reinstate Sumner Road, jointly funded by the Council and New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, was completed in March 2019. It provided a direct road link between the communities of Lyttelton and Sumner again, for the first time since the earthquakes.

Bus priority lanes were installed on Lincoln Road to help improve the reliability of public transport, between Moorhouse Avenue and Whiteleigh Avenue, in 2022. Work is currently underway on Lincoln Road, between Curletts and Wrights roads, to continue the bus lanes and improve water and wastewater services.

There are now more than 75km of cycleways in the city’s cycleways network

Post-earthquake was also an opportunity to reimagine the way people travelled around Christchurch. There are now more than 75km of cycleways in the city’s cycleways network, with 10 of the 13 planned routes open to ride.

Data shows that growing numbers of residents think Christchurch is a bicycle friendly city. Ten years ago, 38% of people surveyed thought that it was bicycle friendly while by 2025 this had grown significantly to 67%.

A network of stormwater facilities – including wetlands and stormwater basins – have also been built across the city to help reduce flood risks. Flood protection work completed in Wigram, which finished in 2019, has lessened the risk of properties near the Heathcote flooding and created a wetland area and walking tracks for the public to enjoy.

Construction began on the 109ha Te Kuru Wetlands in the upper catchment of the Ōpāwaho Heathcote River in 2019 and was completed in 2024. The $50 million project features expansive wetland areas, stormwater storage, and filtration basins. The basins can hold over one million cubic metres of floodwater during major rain events, significantly reducing the risk of downstream flooding.  

The 109ha Te Kuru Wetlands project was completed in 2024

The basins also treat stormwater runoff from surrounding residential areas to improve water quality in Cashmere Stream. The unique approach to stormwater management earned national recognition, winning two top awards at the 2025 Aotearoa New Zealand Public Works Engineering Excellence Awards.